Henry Ford

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How Henry Ford''s assembly line revolutionized factory production

Replica of Henry Ford's automobile shop.

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Vintage engraving from 1878 of the spinning room in Shadwell Rope Works. View of the factory floor. Industrial revolution

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Henry Ford summary

Henry Ford

Q: What is Henry Ford best known for?

Henry Ford’s assembly-line methods revolutionized factory production. Using his techniques, chassis assembly was reduced from 12.5 man-hours to 93 man-minutes by 1914. Assembly time reduction contributed to the drastic cut in price of the private automobile. This made cars affordable to the growing American middle class.

Q: What was Henry Ford’s childhood like?

Henry Ford was one of eight children born to William and Mary Ford. He was born on a farm near Dearborn, Michigan. For eight years he attended a one-room school when he wasn’t helping on the farm with the harvest. At age 16 he left home on foot to find work in Detroit’s machine shops.

Q: How did Henry Ford impact the world?

With the production of the Model T automobile, Henry Ford had an unforeseen and tremendous impact on American life. He became regarded as an apt symbol of the transition from an agricultural to an industrial America.

American industrialist

Written by Carol W. Gelderman

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Apr 3, 2024 • Article History

Henry Ford

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Category: Arts & Culture

Born:: July 30, 1863, Wayne county, Michigan, U.S.

Died:: April 7, 1947, Dearborn, Michigan (aged 83)

Founder:: Ford Motor Company

Inventions:: Model A; Model T

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What is Henry Ford best known for?

What was Henry Ford’s childhood like?

How did Henry Ford impact the world?

Henry Ford (born July 30, 1863, Wayne county, Michigan, U.S.—died April 7, 1947, Dearborn, Michigan) American industrialist who revolutionized factory production with his assembly-line methods. (Read Henry Ford’s 1926 Britannica essay on mass production.) Ford spent most of his life making headlines, good, bad, but never indifferent. Celebrated as both a technological genius and a folk hero, Ford was the creative force behind an industry of unprecedented size and wealth that in only a few decades permanently changed the economic and social character of the United States. When young Ford left his father’s farm in 1879 for Detroit, only two ...(100 of 3040 words)

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